Calgary topmost city to live in North America

In a latest survey by the The Economist, three of Canada’s largest cities, Calgary, Vancouver, and Toronto, continue to rank among the top 10 most liveable cities in the world.

The three cities are the only North American cities in the top 10 of the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU)’s 2018 global liveability Index. In comparison to the EIU’s 2017 survey results, Calgary replaced Toronto in 4th place, whereas Vancouver and Toronto fell three places to 6th and 7th place respectively.

Austria’s capital city, Vienna, was named the world’s most liveable city for the first time, displacing Melbourne, Australia, for the top spot.

This Global Liveability Index is published annually. It measures living conditions in 140 cities around the world based on five categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. Each city receives a liveability score based on qualitative and quantitative factors under each of the five categories. If a city achieves a rating of 100 in a specific category it means the city is ideal; a rating of 1 is considered intolerable.

The factors considered under each category are as follows:

1. Stability: This category examines the prevalence of crime, threat of terror/ military conflict or civil unrest.

2. Healthcare: This category focuses on the availability/quality of private and public healthcare, over-the-counter drugs and other general healthcare indicators.

3. Culture and Environment: This category measures various indicators that range from temperature rating, climate, level of corruption, social or religious restrictions, food/drink, and other social indicators.

4. Education: The category looks at the availability/quality of private and public education.

5. Infrastructure: This category is an assessment of the quality of roads, public transportation, availability of housing, and other indicators.

Calgary had a perfect score in four out of the five categories, with Culture and Environment its only shortcoming. Vancouver and Toronto received perfect scores for healthcare and education.Out of all top 10 liveable cities in the world, Vancouver was the only city to get a perfect score in the Culture and Environment category.

City

Rank

Overall Rating

Stability

Healthcare

Culture &Environment

Education

Infrastructure

Calgary, Alberta

4

97.5

100

100

90

100

100

Vancouver, British Columbia

6

97.3

95

100

100

100

92.9

Toronto, Ontario

7

97.2

100

100

97.2

100

89.3

Calgary is a a growing destination of choice for newcomers. It has approximately 1.26 million inhabitants and has in the recent years witnessed considerable growth.

Vancouver and Toronto have traditionally been the among the top destinations of choice for immigrants. In fact, immigrants made up approximately 46 per cent of Toronto’s population, and 40.8 per cent of Vancouver’s in 2016.